Spoiled Yogi

If you follow me on Twitter, you might already know that I recently signed up for Netflix and am currently enjoying my free trial. a few night ago, my husband and I watched a documentary called The Science of Stress. I learned a few things I wanted to share with all of you.

The documentary compared the stress humans experience with the stress other animals–monkeys, of course–face. Scientists have noticed a connection between hierarchical societies and stress. Meaning the most dominant monkeys have less peer-induced stress than than passive monkeys because, basically, the big guys pick on the smaller, weaker guys. We know that stress adversely affects the health of the monkeys in the study because the dominant monkeys live longer, have less build up in arteries, and are in overall better health.

The scientists in the documentary drew parallels (based on a different study) between the dominant monkeys and the people at the top of the totem pole in the office (the CEOs and upper management-types). The more power a person had in his office environment, the better his overall health.

I have a few issues with the research as it was presented. There has to be more at play here than just stress, right? Besides, don’t we usually think of the top management jobs as the MOST stressful because of the huge responsibility and longer hours?

What I took away from it is this: 1. Stress drastically impacts our health and well-being, so it’s important to find a way to manage stress (ahem, yoga). 2. Your outlook on life is more important than your career, environment, or station in life. As the scientist in the documentary said (and I’m paraphrasing here): You could be at the bottom of the hierarchy, but the captain of the company softball team. If you decide that’s more important to you than your time in the office, you’re playing by a different set of rules.

Besides yoga, how do you manage stress?  

Last week, I taught yoga to a very enthusiastic group of 5-year-old Daisy Girl Scouts (my niece’s troop) in Tennessee. It was great fun! We hopped like frogs, soared like butterflies, stood like mountains, and giggled like, well, little girls. But I really wanted to give them a taste of what yoga really is, the deep underlying meaning into the practice. At the end of the class, I did my best to explain to them the meaning of Namaste in a way they could understand.

“It means that we all have a little shining light inside of us that connects us to each other. When we say Namaste, that little light is saying hello to the little light in other people around us.” Err… It’s kind of a hard concept to explain to little girls, I thought to myself.

I was thrilled by what happened next. One little girl looked at me with a smile on her face and beamed, “Hello, Light.” Then, a few more chimed in looking this time looking from side to side at the other girls in the circle, “Hello, Light!” I was elated. They got it! And it didn’t have to be so complicated, after all.

So, on the last day of 2010, I wanted to share this story as a reminder that while there’s so much more to the practice than we sometimes even realize, there are also truths that are so simple they can be summed up in two words. My wish for the New Year is that we all reap the benefits of both the profound complexities of the practice and those sweet little nuggets of truth that are accessible to us all.
 
“Hello, Lights!”

Image: Lululemon Athletica

Yesterday, I checked out a really cool yoga studio in Nashville, TN. I’m here staying with my mom as she preps to donate stem cells to my uncle who is fighting a battle with leukemia (more on that later). When I told my mom I was going to a yoga class she said, “What if I wanted to come, too?” She’s never done yoga before so of course I wanted to encourage her! The website said the class was open to “all levels,” so I told her she should come along. Ultimately, she decided against it.

It was a good decision.

Of course, I knew that an all levels vinyasa class might be a bit much for my middle aged mom with no yoga experience… But this class was HARD! It would have been a disaster if my mom had come.

It made me wonder how often that happens… Someone totally new to the practice of yoga decides to go to a yoga studio just to see what it’s all about. He chooses an all levels class because he doesn’t know where he fits in. He unrolls his mat… and WHAM! The teacher leads them through inversions, arm balances, and super hard balance sequences with very little discussion of alignment or instruction on how to get in and out of the poses. This would make any beginner feel confused, frustrated, and like yoga is definitely NOT for him. If my first yoga experience had been like that, I would probably never have gone back!

I don’t mean to pick on Nashville. I’ve noticed that all levels classes at studios in San Francisco and other places I’ve practiced could be just as hard. It seems to depend on what kind of yoga studio (all levels at an Ashtanga studio is probably a lot different than an Iyengar all levels class) and the students that show up (after all, teachers try to tailor their classes to the students who are there and if only advanced students show up it might be silly to teach a level 1 class).

I’d love to do a little informal research here… Please share: What’s involved in an all levels class at your home studio (and be sure to tell us where your studios is!) Should studio owners make more of an effort to explain what all levels means at THEIR studio? Or is it OK to leave it open-ended and teach who shows up?

What do you think?

I picked up my new issue of Real Simple today, a magazine that always gives me great ideas. This issue’s theme is all about happiness with the main feature story about how to be happier in the New Year. There’s nothing ground-breaking here. It’s in the ability to enjoy the little things that really makes our lives more joyful. As one reader wrote, “When I catch several green traffic lights in a row, I feel certain my day is going to be a good one.” Everyone can relate to that. As yoga students, we already know the importance of taking joy in the little things: The amazing feeling we get from one good, deep breath or the radiant after-glow of a great practice session. It’s too easy to forget, though. This is especially true this time of the year when we make promises to ourselves that at their core sound a lot like: “I’d be happier if only I could … (lose 10 pounds, get a better job, run a marathon… pick your favorite resolution).”

I’ve noticed that I feel happier when I look around and see all the blessings in front of me–instead of pining away for something that I don’t have. So my resolution this New Year is going to be to notice the little things that make me happy more often. Things like:

Seeing my husband lay on the couch with both the dog and cat curled up on top of him…and seeing the cuddle up with each other.

The first time I’m able to feel what an advanced pose feels like.

YogaJournal.com

Learning something new–like how to take a cool photograph + noticing how much beauty is in little things (see both in my photo below).

 Getting an unexpected package in the mail.

Image: Flickr user Uzbeckistan

What little things have made you happiest in 2009?